The Secrets of Lyanna’s Costume

Lyanna (Dita Tantang) is a child of the wild, an outcast, a nomad. Like Hunter, she spends her life on the road. She carries nothing more than what she deems absolutely essential, including her shoulder bag, which is one of the first things I bought, when Kate and I visited TORM (The Original Re-enactors Market) back in 2014. It is actually made from goatskin tanned with honey, giving it a deliciously sweet smell and Lyanna a natural perfume.

On reflection, her costume is almost tribal, honed down from years of fighting. Her clothing is her second skin. The base of Lyanna’s dress is purely layers of uncut leather, hard-wearing and durable. I wanted it to seem as though she had bound herself in this natural armour.

Lyanna is an agile fighter, often giving her the upper hand against clumsy opponents.In order to allow her maximum movement, the sides of her “dress” are left unsewn.

The boots she wears are one of the key elements to Lyanna’s costume, continuing the premise that when she needs to, she can run. We created these thigh-high bound boots, almost trousers, in collaboration with Evenlode Leather. As we see in the forest, they are endlessly practical when rolling down hills, under Kah’Nath and skidding through the undergrowth. (The boots were actually held up with a matrix of elastic, forming her “boot suit”. Untreated leather can stretch; it was essential for Dita to have the freedom to fight without fear of any slip.)

Lyanna has many hidden weapons with quick-release mechanisms. She is always ready to fight by any means necessary. Her weapons are never far from her hands, allowing her to sink the fatal blow into anyone challenging her. She is fierce.

Lyanna has spent her life as an outlaw, killing as she goes, but she has a certain sentimentality only she and Hunter can understand. Around her neck sit horses’ teeth – a memory from a former adventure, loss, triumph?